


Of Paint and Glitter

by TheCookieMonster77



Series: Curveballs [9]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Shenanigans, gender norms are not a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 07:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6185827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCookieMonster77/pseuds/TheCookieMonster77
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu's gonna look fabulous and he knows it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Paint and Glitter

**Author's Note:**

> [on tumblr](http://77-cookies.tumblr.com/post/140752454794/of-paint-and-glitter)

 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Natsu knocks against the doorframe as he skips into Lucy's and Levy's room. Levy twists her head awkwardly, careful not to move her hand from Lucy's grip, and she grins a 'hello' at him. Lucy, who's stretched out on the floor with her long legs neatly tucked underneath her desk, only acknowledges him with a brief flick of her dark eyes before she concentrates on Levy's nails again. Gajeel grunts from Levy's bed, his nose buried in one of her recommendations as he stretches over her duvet on his back.

"Yo," Natsu says before a sharp, harsh scent burns his nose. "What stinks?"

Lucy's brow puckers but she doesn't look up. "You never smell nail polish before?"

Natsu cocks an eyebrow and he sidles up to Levy, carefully pulling her blue locks back so he can peer over her shoulder. "Wendy's polish doesn't smell like this," he explains absently as he admires the shimmery line Lucy's carefully adding to Levy's nail.

Gajeel grunts. "Wendy likes gels better. They smell different."

"Oh." Natsu cocks his head to the side and whistles when he recognizes the elaborate faery wings Lucy's currently painting on Levy's nails. "Damn Luce, you're good."

Lucy perks up and grins at him, the sudden movement causing a few of her dreads to slip over her shoulder. "Thanks! Gajeel gives surprisingly good tips."

" _Surprisingly_?"

Lucy and Levy snicker. Lucy tucks a dread behind her ear, her blonde hair gleaming in the warm sunlight, and her dark cheeks split into a grin. "Hey Natsu, I'm almost done with Levy's nails. You want me to do yours next?"

"Ooh yeah! What color?"

Lucy gestures to a large purple bag on Natsu's left. "Just look through that and pick a few you like. You want me to do a design on your nails as well?"

Natsu shrugs as he pulls the bag closer to him, murmuring an apology when he accidentally bumps Levy's hip. "Maybe? I don't know." He tugs it into his lap, the little bottles tinkling merrily, and peers inside. His jaw drops. "You have a rainbow in a bag Luce."

Lucy laughs merrily, Levy's tinkling giggles joining in. Lucy drops the conversation to focus on Levy's nails, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she carefully adds another line of glitter polish to Levy's nails.

Levy carefully leans back, pausing to make sure she didn't jostle her hand and mess up Lucy's design, and smiles slyly. "I think Lu has a lovely shade of pink that matches your hair."

Natsu's shoulders stiffen and he growls at her. "Not funny Levy."

Gajeel snorts, lifting the book up high enough that he could raise his eyebrow at Natsu. "Gray still not letting the hair thing go?"

Natsu scowls. "Nope, still got another six months of it. Frostnuts even tried to make me dye it again because it wasn't the right shade of red or something." Natsu rolls his eyes. "The bastard won't get a room change either, he just wants to rub it all in."

Levy raises her eyebrows, her eyes darting to Gajeel's and back to Natsu. "Weren't _you_ the one who asked Gray to be your roommate?" Levy asks as she bumps Natsu's shoulder with hers, blithely ignoring Lucy's protest as her hand slips out of Lucy's grip.

"My team was winning back then! _He_ was supposed to have _his_ hair dyed green!" Natsu ignores Gajeel's snicker and snide remark about plans backfiring as he aggressively rifles through Lucy's nail polish bag.

He catches Levy and Gajeel exchange gloating looks and secretive smirks out of the corner of his eye (yeah, _totally_ nothing going on there) and his scowl deepens. Natsu sticks his tongue out at them before grabbing a random bottle to present to Lucy. "This one's nice."

Lucy blows on Levy's nails before looking at the bottle Natsu was clutching. She hums as she plucks the dark green bottle out of his hand and holds it up in the sunlight, squinting as she inspects the way it shimmers. "It's nice but it's not quite the right shade of green for your skintone. It'd compliment Gajeel's darker skin better than yours." Lucy blinks, her warm brown eyes flicking towards Gajeel with a mischievous twinkle. "Hey Gajeel-"

"Nope."

Lucy blinks before huffing, her dark cheeks puffing out in a pout.

Natsu frowns at his cousin. "What's the matter with you? Too scared to have your nails painted?"

Gajeel lifts his book over his head to give Natsu a shrewd look, his brow pinched in confusion. "You were _right there_ when Wendy painted my nails over Thanksgiving break. You even complimented her choice of glitter nail polish."

Natsu raises his eyebrow. "And you won't let Luce do your nails because…?"

Lucy's pout deepens as she throws a q-tip at Gajeel, expression morphing into a pleading look. " _Please_ Gajeel? It will be so _pretty_ on you."

Gajeel sighs in exasperation. "No, I'm not allowed to have my nails painted at work." He rolls his eyes as he says, "It's 'unprofessional'."

Lucy sighs and she shakes the nail polish bottle sadly. "But still…"

Natsu scratches his head. "I thought you were using your vacation time for the holidays?"

"Still have to work 'til Saturday tho."

Lucy perks up and her mouth is only halfway open when Gajeel cuts her off.

"Yes, you can paint my nails then."

Lucy cheers, beaming at Gajeel as he rolls his eyes fondly. She turns back to her bag, which Levy is currently rooting through, and swats Levy's wrist. "Stop that, you'll ruin all my hard work!"

Levy puffs her cheeks out but surrenders the bag with ease. "I didn't damage anything," she says petulantly as she holds her hands out for Lucy's inspection. "I'm just trying to find a good one for Natsu."

Natsu hums as he shuffles through the bright bottles, puckering his lips as he holds up a light blue one for inspection. "Find any?"

Levy nods to a small cluster to her right. "The bright pink one."

Natsu drops his hand and glares at Levy, deftly dodging Gajeel's hand when he tries to smack the back of his head for doing so. "Meanie."

Levy raises her eyebrow, tapping a newly manicured nail against her freckled chin. "Even if it's called 'Dragonhide'?"

Lucy snorts over Natsu's gasp and reaches around Levy to snatch up the bottle. "It's seriously named that? What a weird-"

Natsu's hand closes over hers and she yelps. Lucy's eyes widen when she realizes Natsu is leaning over Levy's legs, ignoring Levy's grunts and protests as he stares up at Lucy with stars in his eyes. "Can you paint a _dragon_ on my nails?"

Lucy blanches. "Hell no, how the fuck would I do that?"

"What?" Natsu whines, slumping down on Levy's thighs. He ignores her as she tries to shove him off again and pouts at Lucy.

Lucy rolls her eyes and flicks his forehead. "Sorry, no can do. But…" she trails off, grabbing her bag and carelessly tossing little bottles out.

Natsu perks up, lifting himself off Levy enough that she can roll away from him. "What?" he asks, not noticing Levy swat his leg as he watches Lucy hopefully.

"Aha!" Lucy holds up a dark, shimmering bottle of polish (Natsu thinks it might be green but it's to dark to tell) and she grins at him, her teeth flashing against her dark lips. "You like green right?"

Natsu sticks his lower lip out and shrugs. He grabs the bottle and holds it up in the light, turning it over as he squints at the little gold flecks in the dark color. "It's pretty," he says, his eyes flicking back to Lucy. His brow puckers when he sees that Lucy's gone back to rooting through the bag. "Why?"

Lucy eyes a light green bottle critically before tossing it back in her bag. "I can't do a dragon, I'm not that good and your nails aren't big enough," she says as she pulls out a rich green color and smiles triumphantly. Her eyes flash back to his, a twinkle sparkling in the dark brown depths.

"But what about dragon scales?"

 


End file.
